Do U.S. Workers Take Priority?

Microsoft has already announced that it will be laying off a total of 5,000 workers over the course of the next eighteen months. The question is – should Microsoft protect the jobs of U.S. workers over those of foreign workers? According to Senator Charles Grassley, the answer is yes. While there is no law that requires a company to eliminate the jobs of H-1B visa workers before the jobs of U.S. citizens, Senator Grassley is urging Microsoft to do just that. Grassley “demanded that U.S. workers get priority in keeping their jobs” and argued that Microsoft has a “moral obligation” to protect it’s U.S. employees.

Immigration attorney David Kussin stated that by law, you must treat employees with H-1B visas the same as U.S. citizens “in all regards.” It is unknown how many H-1B workers Microsoft currently employs, but according to public data they were approved for 2,300 visas between 2006 and 2007 . Lou Gellos, a Microsoft spokesman, said ” “The initial reductions we announced affect employees in a number of business units, and a significant number of the affected employees are foreign citizens working in this country on a visa.”

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